TWO young men studying at University of Wales College Newport defied the stereotyping of students as lazy, daytime TV watchers to win the first ever Gwent Business Brain competition.

Paul Hewlett, an undergraduate student of product engineering and design and Andrew Rowlands, a doctoral student researching foreign investment into Russia, said they were filled with trepidation when they saw older teams arriving "in big, powerful cars".

But it didn't inhibit their playing style which, according to business game organiser Gyffard Yates (of IDC Interact) was both bold and thoughtful.

They won a cash prize of £2,000 plus £1,000 worth of advertising in the Argus (although what they can advertise, apart from their job availability at some point, is open to question!)

They were chased all the way by two teams from Silver Telecom and Gwent Cables packed with business experience.

In fact, in the last round the students (whose team was appropriately named Economically Challenged) lost ground, but neither of the chasers could make up the margins required to snatch a last-gasp victory.

The Silver Telecom team was comprised of Chris Binnie, Chris Green, Emma Jones and Steve Edwards. They won £750 cash and £250 worth of advertising in the Argus.

Identical rewards accrued to the team from Gwent Cables which featured Keith Gibbons, Allan Martin and Christopher Gibbons.

An interesting footnote is that Keith Gibbons was one of the earliest winners of Gwent Young Entrepeneur of the Year. This was the competition run for 14 years before the sponsors decided to update the formula and produce Gwent Business Brain.

The seven teams which competed for Business Brain 2004 were challenged with establishing and growing an IT company supplying computers to worldwide markets.

All the variables, such as which markets to enter, how to price the product, how much to spend on R&D, how big a sales staff to establish and where to advertise, were left open to the competitors.

Over six rounds the teams' entries and decisions were appraised on line by IDC Interact's computer model and the results returned to the competition hall so everyone could see where they stood in relation to their rivals.

Gyffard Yates said: "All the teams initially dived into the top end of the market because the margins looked higher. This created intense competition and made some teams' optimistic pricing policies unworkable.

"The vast majority of the business actually lay in the "workhorse" segment and eventually some of the teams realised this. Throughout the competition we recommended that teams watched their rivals to see what they we're doing. If the rivals were being successful they should not be embarrassed to copy them.

"Although lots of mistakes were made along the way I was impressed with all the teams' determination to learn, to get things right and to win. It was very open and the winner was not decided until the last round."

Outside the winner and two runners-up, the chasing pack consisted of teams from House of Feathers (Tracey-Ann Griffiths and Sue Coombs), fwdlawassocates / Displays To Go (Nigel Flanagan and Paul Adams), Benchmark Technologies (Debbie May, Sian Clode, Paula Ralph and Rhodri Evans), and Capita Symonds (Matthew Holt, Darren Badham, Nicola Wilkinson, Owain Jones and Andrew Brundson).

Each team was given a certificate and champagne in recognition of their unique strengths.

The competition's six rounds occupied a day at the extensive computer suite at Newport University's Caerleon campus.

By the early evening competitors, sponsors and judges had plenty of appetite for the awards dinner.

Guest speaker was BBC Wales head of sport Nigel Walker. The former sprinter turned Wales rugby winger gave a moving and funny speech about the week preceding his rugby debut for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park.

After building up to the emotional crescendo of running out onto the pitch, Mr Walker deflated the moment by admitting his team lost to Ireland and was booed off the pitch.

But his point was that success in life is not built upon the glorious moments of victory but on how many times you pick yourself up off the floor after a knock-back and get going again. Mr Walker also presented the prizes.

Accepting a cheque for £2,000 on behalf of "Economically Challenged" Andrew Rowlands said: "This has been a fantastic experience. We started the competition with no expectations whatsoever and much to our surprise ended up winning it.

"Thanks very much to everyone involved and rest assured the money will go towards paying off some large student loans."

The awards dinner was attended by Graham Moore, chief executive of urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited, Newport Assembly member Rosemary Butler and university vice chancellor Geoff Edge.

Gwent Business Brain was created and sponsored by Peacheys Accountants, HSBC, M4 Business Network, Newport & Gwent Enterprise and the Argus.

For HSBC, commercial manager Simon Howorth said: "It has been a fascinating day.

"Obviously, holding something so new and so different is a learning curve and some aspects could be revised. But all-in-all a great event."

Roger Peachey of Peacheys accountants said: "I loved the enthusiasm of the teams and the way in which the competition is wide open to people of diverse age, experience and background.

"When we started the Gwent Young Entrepreneur competition it was desperately needed as a symbol of what could be done in the wake of collapsing traditional industries.

"Gwent's business landscape has changed enormously since then and we wanted to reflect this with a new, inclusive competition which highlighted business skills and dilemmas.

"Through IDC Interact and its development director Gyffard Yates we've achieved that and I'd like to thank Gyffard for his hard work."